[DEAL GONE] Detroit to Hawaii $355+ Round Trip Apr 2019 - Feb 2020 on United Airlines

UPDATE: This sale is expired :(

$355+ Detroit to Hawaii Apr 2019 - Feb 2020

Book now and decide later!  PLEASE follow this advice if you are interested in this deal.  This sale could end at any moment.  Flights have a 24-hour free cancellation period after booking.

Too many people wait and try to contact friends and get things arranged and figure out logistics before booking the flights, then come back to book once everything is 'set' and they discover the cheap flights are gone.

Detroit (DTW) to Hawaii:

• From $355 round trip in basic economy
• From $445 round trip in regular economy

To These Hawaiian Airports

• Honolulu (HNL)
• Kona (KOA)
• Lihue (LIH)
• Kahului (OGG)

Context

Christmas timeframe is excluded from this fare sale.  Otherwise, dates are widely available from today through Feb 2020.

This is a great price to Hawaii and includes summer travel.  One- or two-stop flights from DTW.  United does not fly nonstop from DTW to Hawaii.

This is as good or better than Hawaii flights from Toronto, which is usually a much cheaper origin than Chicago or Detroit.

Secret Flying reported this deal on March 28 (though their post is dated March 29).

Search on Google Flights and click through on desired flight to book directly with United.

Google Flights Search - Regular Economy

Selecting one carry-on bag from the search filter eliminates basic economy itineraries from the results

Sat 3/30 - Mon 4/8 $450 (regular economy) - last-minute Hawaii spring break trip for cheap!

Fri 8/23 - Sat 8/31 $445 (regular economy) - summer travel before school starts

Tues 11/19 - Thur 11/28 $445 (regular economy) - Thanksgiving timeframe

Google Flights Search - Basic Economy

Mon 12/30 - Sat 1/11 $393 (basic economy) - New Years week

Fri 1/31 - Sat 2/15 $359 (basic economy)

Background

Secret Flying - Detroit to Hawaii from $355 round trip 

[FARE GONE] Detroit/Chicago to LA $120+ round trip on United/Alaska Sept 2018 - Feb 2019

This deal has expired.

Two separate fare sales posted today:

United Airlines Detroit (DTW) to LA $120 round trip (basic econ) or $170 (reg econ)
Late August to Feb 2019.  Cheap price NOT available around Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Years.  These are 1-stop flights from Detroit to a United hub such as Denver (DEN) Washington Dulles (IAD), Chicago (ORD), Newark (EWR).

Sample Google Flights - Thurs Nov 29 - Mon Dec 3.  LINK

Background article HERE lists fares as $134/184 (basic/regular economy), but these flights are pricing out cheaper than that on Google flights and United.com as of 12:50pm on 6/26/2018.


Alaska Airlines Chicago (ORD) to LAX. Nonstop. $176+ RT. Sept - early Dec 2018
Tues/Weds/Sat flights only.  Nonstop flights available from $217 for travel on other days of the week.  Sale ends today 6/26.  United has matched Alaska's pricing on this as well.  American has prices from $197.

Background article HERE.

Sample Google Flights - Tues Dec 4 - Sat Dec 8.  LINK.
These are good, but not great, flight prices from the Midwest to LA.

[Expired] Detroit to Europe $400+ Round Trip May/early June

This fare sale has expired

Excellent price on United and other Star Alliance carriers (e.g. Air Canada) from Detroit to Europe with departures in May thru early June.  As low as $400 per person round trip.

More details here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/03/27/united-starting-457-fort-lauderdale-miami-boston-philadelphia-atlanta-charlotte… 

NOTE:  fares are pricing out cheaper on Google Flights as of 4pm Eastern than reported on The Flight Deal's article (link above)

Most of the cheap fares look to be to Amsterdam, but some availability to Paris and other cities is also sprinkled in.

Sample searches on Google Flights:

May 5 - May 19 - $400 and up

June 4 - June 15 - $407 and up

[Expired] Widespread Fare Sale US to Europe $450+ Most US Airports to Rome, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Brussels etc.

This fare sale has expired

Big fare sale, apparently started by Delta and matched by United.

Dates:

• Now thru May
• Mid-September thru early December

7-day stay required.  Must book 28 days in advance.

Big airports around the US, including Detroit (DTW) and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) are showing the cheap fares.

So are small airports in Michigan, all showing sub-$500 roundtrips to various European cities.  Includes flights from:

• Grand Rapids (GRR)
• Lansing (LAN)
• Traverse City (TVC)
• Muskegon (MKG)
• Flint (FNT)
• Kalamazoo (AZO)

Destination Cities Available Include:

• Rome (FCO)
• Milan (MXP)
• Paris (CDG)
• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Munich (MUC)
• Brussels (BRU)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Dusseldorf (DUS)
• Berlin (TXL)
• Marseille (MRS)
• Zurich (ZRH)
• Geneva (GVA)
• Prague (PRG)
• Krakow (KRK)
• Warsaw (WAW)
• Bucharest (OTP)
• Zagreb (ZAG)
• Barcelona (BCN)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Valencia (VLC)
• Bilbao (BIO)
• Lisbon (LIS)
• Porto (OPO)
• Possibly others

More details here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/02/05/united-starting-507-united-states-amsterdam-milan-rome-paris-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

Sample Dates with Cheap Flights:

• Fri Oct 12 - Sat Oct 20.  From GRR/LAN/TVC/FNT/MKG from $453.  Google Flights
• Weds Nov 21 - Sat Dec 1 (Thanksgiving is Nov 22).  From $451.  Google Flights
• Mon Mar 12 - Tues Mar 20.  From $451.  Google Flights
• Fri Mar 30 - Mon Apr 9.  From $503.  (Spring break week).  Google Flights
• Sun Apr 1 - Mon Apr 9.  From $458.  From Detroit.  Google Flights

Google Flights "Explore" View from October showing available prices from GRR

Detroit to Iceland $200 Roundtrip! Amsterdam/Berlin/Copenhagen/Dublin/Paris from $300 RT

WOW air begins service to Europe from Detroit (DTW) in 2018.  WOW air already flies from several other large US cities to Europe, and their fares are VERY low.

Flights from DTW to Europe have been bookable for several weeks now, and the prices on certain dates are VERY cheap.

As a low-cost carrier, WOW charges extra for a lot of 'regular' stuff such as a 2nd cabin bag, seat selection, checked bags, etc.

WOW air flights between US and Europe all connect in Reykjavik (KEF).

If you can pack light - or even if you can't - their prices can be tough to beat.

Sept/Oct 2018 flights to Reykjavik (KEF) from $200 round trip on certain dates.

Examples

• DTW-KEF $200 round trip Sept 8-19 (Google Flights link)
• DTW-DUB $300 round trip Sept 17-28 (Google Flights link)

• DTW-CDG (Paris) $300 round trip Oct 8-19 (Google Flights link)

• DTW-London Stansted (STN) $340, Amsterdam (AMS) $300, Paris (CDG) $300 Oct 15-26 (Google Flights link)

Details about fare sale on WOW air's website - https://wowair.us/flights/best-fares/?selected_airport=DTW

Highly recommend registering to receive Travelzoo email updates.  They find and post some good deals and also some good travel content in general.  That's how I heard about this particular WOW air sale from Detroit to Europe.

[MOSTLY GONE] Europe on Sale across the U.S. $400+ Round Trip Jan - March 2018

UPDATE 11/25/2017 most of the cheap fares have disappeared.  However, certain destination cities continus to pop up for early 2018 travel < $500 round trip.  Keep an eye out if you are still looking to book something.  And feel free to ask if you need help!

The past few days is one of these times when domestic airlines started having mini fare wars on Europe flights.  American and Delta in particular are going back and forth, although United also has gotten involved.  The result is lots of cities available for $400-500 round trip Jan/Feb/March 2018 and also some in May if you look.

I leave it to you to do your own flight searches at Google Flights or ITA Matrix (matrix.itasoftware.com) -- beware that no flight search engine or aggregator will show ALL the cheap flights; sometimes you'll see things on Matrix that aren't on Google Flights, or vice versa.

Detroit and Chicago are definitely available for many destination cities.

Grand Rapids is also available to many destination cities, at similar prices.

Background Articles:

http://faredealalert.com/2017/11/20/american-starting-at-401-united-states-europe-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

https://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/11/20/delta-klm-royal-dutch-401-dallas-chicago-miami-philadelphia-phoenix-charlotte-d…

https://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/11/20/american-starting-430-united-states-milan-rome-venice-italy-roundtrip-including…

If you are more 'adventurous' with booking thru a third party online travel agency (OTA) rather than booking directly with the airline, you can save another $25-50 per person by searching at Momondo and then clicking thru and booking with whichever OTA has the cheapest price on your desired trip.  More info here:  http://www.secretflying.com/posts/sale-usa-europe-434-roundtrip/

Detroit Flights

Grand Rapids Flights

Book flights with confidence | Google Flights

March 3 - 11.  Zurich, Brussels, Munich, Rome, Milan $550 or less RT.  LINK

Jan 13 - 21.  Paris and Amsterdam $405-450 RT.  LINK

Feb 18-25.  Barcelona, Madrid, Frankfurt, Milan $417-510 RT.  LINK

Big Europe Fare Sale Jan-May 2018 - $340+ RT from ORD/DTW, even GRR, LAN, & TVC!

Many U.S. cities are on sale to Europe - including Grand Rapids (GRR), Lansing (LAN), Kalamazoo (AZO), even Traverse City (TVC).

Do some searches for yourself thru approx May 2018.  Use Google Flights or Kayak or your favorite search engine.  Most of the cheapest flights are available thru March, but some are thru May.

Background Articles

• The Flight Deal - $400 and up to many cities Jan-Mar 2018
• Valid for travel from late January 2018 – mid March 2018.  A 7 day minimum stay is required. Availability is limited. Must purchase at least 50 days in advance of departure

• Spain on sale from many U.S. cities from the $400s - Fare Deal Alert

• Helsinki from most of the U.S. from $445 round trip - Fare Deal Alert
• Valid for travel from mid-January 2018 – mid-March 2018 for Thursday through Sunday departures and for Friday through Monday returns. A 7 day minimum stay is required. Must purchase at least 50 days in advance of departure.

Which Cities are On Sale?

• Cities showing flights available < $500 round trip include:
• Barcelona (BCN)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Rome (FCO)
• Milan (MXP)
• Zurich (ZRH)
• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Paris (CDG)
• Helsinki (HEL)
• Munich (MUC)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Geneva (GVA)

Deal Breakdown - $340 Round Trip Chicago to Geneva

• Chicago to Geneva (GVA) from $340 round trip

ORD>GVA Friday May 11 - Sunday May 20 - $340 and up RT

ORD>GVA Sun May 20 - Sat May 26 - $354 and up (includes Icelandair flight w/24 hr layover in Reykjavik)

• It is possible to book a routing with a long enough layover in Montreal, Brussels, or other connecting city to get out of the airport and explore the city.
• If you like the sound of a long layover, you'll probably want to use ITA Matrix for your search, and experiment with the connection times as a way to find these longer connections.
• Otherwise, Google Flights should work well enough.
• Once in Geneva, it's easy to get cheap intra-Europe flights if there are other places you'd like to visit.
• Minimum 7-day stay.
• More details at The Flight Deal

Sample Fare Searches on Google Flights

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to FRA, MUC, MXP, FCO, TXL Sat March 17- Sun March 25.  $450-500 round trip to Frankfurt, Munich, and Rome

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to AMS, CDG, BCN, MAD, BRU Sat March 3 - Sun March 11.  AMS from $425, MAD from $434, CDG from $441, BCN from $453

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to BCN, MUC Sun March 4 - Mon March 12.  BCN from $408, MUC from $462

ORD/MDW/DTW to Helsinki (HEL) Fri May 25 - Sun June 3.  $450+ RT

ORD/MDW/DTW to MAD, BCN, AMS, CDG, ZRH Sat Feb 3 - Mon Feb 12.  AMS from $348, CDG from $378, BCN from $404, ZRH from $423

Don't Forget About Toronto!

These aren't necessarily 'sale' prices, although they are very CHEAP prices.  Toronto offers a great alternative to Michigan-based travelers since it's only about 5 hours drive from Grand Rapids.  Lots of inexpensive Europe flights are available from Toronto (YYZ).

YYZ to Copenhagen (CPH), Dublin (DUB), Stockholm (ARN), Berlin (TXL), Paris (CDG) from $346 RT on Wow Air

Detroit to Mumbai India Roundtrip $807 and up thru May/June 2017

hat tip to Fare Deal Alert.

Flights on United and other Star Alliance partner airlines are as low as $807 roundtrip, Detroit (DTW) to Mumbai (BOM) now thru May 2017 or a bit later.

• Last departure date with sub-$900 round trip pricing is June 1, 2017.
• Can return thru June and into early July at this low pricing.
• Search on Google Flights for more information.
• Delta (SkyTeam Alliance) seems to have matched these sale fares.
• Numerous dates are available, but not every day during the date range.
• Some routings are 2-stop but some 1-stops are available - e.g. Detroit (DTW) to Newark (EWR) to Mumbai (BOM) on United Airlines.

Sample search on Google Flights June 1 depart, July 3 return $819 and up round trip.  

[DEAL GONE] Europe on sale again: Many U.S. Cities from $477 Roundtrip Now thru Early Dec 2017

UPDATE 1/10/2017 330PM.  This fare sale has expired.  Prices outlined in this post are no longer available.

The last widespread US > Europe fare sale lasted about a week.  This one lasted about 24 hours.  The upshot is, you never know how long a sale will last.  Book now and think later!  Make use of the 24-hour cancelation window.  Get ahold of friends and family members, and work on other arrangements (hotels, rental cars, rides to the airport, etc) AFTER you book.  Nothing bugs me more than hearing someone say, 'I didn't book it because I was waiting for so-and-so to get back to me, so I missed the deal' or 'I couldn't get my brother to commit right away and when I tried to book, the deal was over.'  Don't make this mistake!

This fare sale started yesterday.  Last night I booked a flight for a family of six friends from Detroit to London for $596 round trip during August 2017 -- summer travel to Europe for < $600 each roundtrip is very good.  This morning, I checked again and the same prices were available from Grand Rapids!  So I booked new flights from GRR and will cancel the flights from Detroit since there's always 24 hours to cancel flights (as long as the departure date is at least 7 days away).

This is a very widespread fare sale -- the prices look to be the same for most dates thru the end of the current airline schedules in early December 2017.

• Spring break?  Yes
• Summer?  Yes
• Any other time thru early December 2017?  Yes

Google Flights (google.com/flights) is the easiest way to search, then click thru to book directly with the airlines.

If you are somewhat of a risk taker, try searching on www.momondo.com which shows results from many various online travel agencies.  These OTAs often have cheaper airfares than what are offered directly by the airlines.

Amsterdam, Paris, London, Madrid -- all of these cities are showing availability for $477-$550 range roundtrip on MANY dates.

If you can't find what you are looking for from GRR, try Detroit (DTW) or Chicago (ORD or MDW) for more options.

Cheap Flights to Europe? Toronto is a Great Option

Many folks are not aware that Toronto's Pearson International Airport (YYZ) offers lots of cheap flights to Europe.  Folks in the Midwest may consider Toronto a viable option to Chicago or Detroit.  Combine a day in Toronto before or after your flight to get some extra vacation out of your vacation.  Plus, Toronto is several hundred miles east of ORD and DTW, which means shorter flight across the pond - Toronto to Reykjavik is less than 6 hours, Dublin is 6.5 hours, London is < 7 hours.

Numerous airlines, including:

• British Airways, Air Canada, Air France, KLM, Westjet, Aer Lingus, Air Transat, LOT, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, WOW Air, and Icelandair

fly nonstop from Toronto to several European cities including:

• Dublin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Munich, Paris, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Vienna, Brussels, Warsaw, Istanbul, and Reykjavik.
• LINK (Wikipedia) - nonstop flights from Toronto to Europe, listed by airline and city

Here are some sample roundtrip airfares from Toronto for various dates; prices as low as the following:

• Weds Nov 23 - Sun Nov 27 - long weekend over Thanksgiving.  Reykjavik $388, London $420, Paris $438, Copenhagen $441.  LINK
• Sun Nov 27 - Mon Dec 5 - 8 day trip.  Reykjavik $320, Amsterdam $355, Paris $381, Dublin $419, Copenhagen $419, Oslo $426, Bordeaux $435, Rome $446.  LINK
• Thur Feb 23 - Sun Mar 5 - 10-day midwinter break trip.  Reykjavik $267!, London $342, Amsterdam $398, Copenhagen $407, Helsinki $413, Paris $414, Rome $433.  LINK
• Weds Mar 23 - Sun Apr 2 - 10-day Spring break trip.  Reykjavik $282!, Paris $375, Stockholm $381, Amsterdam $419, Madrid $427, Rome $440.  LINK​
• Mon May 1 - Sun May 14 - 14-day late spring trip.  Reykjavik $381, Paris $375, Marseille $447, Rome $453, Barcelona $452.  LINK

Approximate Drive Time to YYZ:

• Rochester NY 2:30
• Detroit 3:30
• Syracuse NY 3:45
• Cleveland 4:30
• Grand Rapids 5:30